These Are Not Our Best Years (Thankfully)
by perpetually-prototyping
Summary: Two sets of freshman twins and a slow hour of detention. Thus the cruel cycle continues. Sora, Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas. High school AU? Yes, high school AU. (Done for a friend who gave me the idea.)
For a schoolday, it was so nice and warm out that it was almost unfair. Nearly all the students had spent their lunch period out on the patio, glad for the first touch of spring after a harsh and ugly winter, and many a wistful glance had been cast out the classroom windows up until the final bell at three o' clock. At that point the student body had hurried en masse to be free and enjoy the gifted weather, which promised to start off an equally gorgeous weekend.

All the students, that was, except for four of them.

For Ventus, the final bell hadn't meant as much. It was just the start of a long, agonizing countdown to _his_ release, which promised to be no less than an hour away. Bright eyes half-lidded with boredom dragged themselves from the row of windows on one side of the room to the clock mounted on the opposite wall.

3:13.

 _"Seriously?"_ he breathed. He drummed his fingers along his lip as he perched his chin in one hand, and then tilted his head to idly observe his company. One desk over sat a boy who was easily Ven's mirror image in his blonde spikes, blue eyes, and nearly exact facial features. Unlike Ven, however, he wore a black hoodie that looked two sizes too big and swamped his skinny build. He was slouched in his chair, cell phone in hand and thumb firing off texts with rapid ease.

In front of him and diagonal from Ven was a third boy, brown-haired, the same age and grade as the other two. He was recycling some old math homework by the looks of it, folding it into a paper football. As Ven watched, he paused halfway through his effort, shook his head, and then noisily unfolded the paper to smooth it out and try again.

Slowly, and with more subtlety, Ven cast a slight glimpse over his shoulder. Two desks behind him was the last of their unfortunate crew: dressed in all black from his leather vest down to the boots he had propped up on his desk, this one, ironically enough, bore the same face as the brunet. They differed in shades - brown hair to black, sea-blue eyes to piercing gold, sun-tanned skin to pale white - but there was no denying the similarity between them. Ignoring the color contrasts, they were arguably identical. Whereas the brunet dressed as casually as the next kid on the street, however, his brother was the urban dictionary definition of gothic punk, with more than enough attitude to match. His hands behind his head, he was rhythmically tilting back in his chair, setting it down again with a _thunk_ , and repeating.

Two sets of identical twins. Same year - freshmen - and same age - fifteen - and all in the same boat: detention. Had this been lunchtime, they would all be talking and laughing and in higher spirits, but something about being on campus after school hours was simply depressing, and goofing around like that suddenly lacked its usual appeal.

Instead, Ven let his mind wander to all the things he was going to do once he got out of here. It occurred to him that he could use this time to get a headstart on his homework, but... nah, he would leave it for Sunday like always.

Suddenly Sora turned around in his seat, breaking the stillness, and propped his perfected football on Roxas' bare desk. "Hey, Vanitas!" he prompted, already setting up for the kick-off. "Go long!"

Vanitas stared dully at him, and then after a few seconds - and moving as slowly as though cooperating was a physical pain - he obliged and made a field goal shape with his fingers. A moment's careful adjustments, and then Sora flicked the paper triangle in an impressive arc that sailed over the three rows of desks-

-but the second it was within reach, Vanitas dropped his stance and snatched it out of the air.

"Hey!" Sora snapped. "That was a perfect shot! I would've made it!"

"You were way off." Vanitas sounded bored as he turned it over - although his voice settings typically only ranged from "bored" to "mocking," so that was nothing new. Only Roxas had ever managed to trigger the bonus "ticked off" mode, but that was rare.

As he flipped the football over the backs of his fingers, Vanitas' eyes drifted up to the back of Ven's head. He hesitated only a heartbeat before setting the football on his knee and taking aim as if to pass it back to Sora - and then at the last second said, "Ventus."

"Hm." Ven turned in his seat and Vanitas shifted direction, flicking the paper hard. In nothing short of perfect trajectory, it took off and hit Ven's forehead dead center, making him jump, blink in confusion, and then glare. " _Hey-!_ "

With a barking laugh, Vanitas leaned his chair back again. "Astute as always."

"Wow, where'd you learn that word?" Ven quipped, rolling his eyes as he turned back to his desk. "Hear it in a Godsmack song?" He heard a _thunk_ as Vanitas' chair set down again. Before he could look back, an arm closed around his neck in a headlock - too tight to really be playful, but just loose enough that he didn't need to seriously fight it off.

" 'Bout time you dropped the holier-than-thou attitude, loser." In response to Ven's attempt to pull away, Vanitas tightened his grip and forced the other boy's head back to look him in the eye. "You're stuck here, same as me."

"Yeah, no _thanks_ to you." Tugging hard at that arm with both hands, Ven managed to give himself enough room to slip his head free. He shot Vanitas a flat look. "Next time you wanna do something as stupid as hotwire a schoolbus, leave us out of it."

"Che." Vanitas crossed his arms, unfazed, and glanced at Roxas with a sharp grin. "Your brother's the one who told me how to do it, y'know. Not our fault you two stuck around."

"To talk you out of it!" Sora pointed out, at the same time that Ven stiffened with an incredulous "Huh?"

Roxas returned Vanitas' look with less humor. "You'd already started before I said anything."

 _"Roxas!"_ Ven exclaimed. His twin rolled his eyes, an uncanny imitation of the same expression Ven had made moments ago.

"I told you, I don't do that stuff anymore. It just kind of sticks with you."

"So you told _Vanitas_ how to-"

Roxas shrugged. "He just asked if he had the right wires or not. I didn't think he was that dumb, so I told him yeah." He scoffed quietly, shaking his head. "Broad daylight and everything."

Vanitas' eyes narrowed slightly, some of that cockiness in his face edging towards confrontation. Had that remark come from Ven, he would have lashed out; since it was Roxas, with whom better discretion was advised in picking one's battles, Vanitas' only punch was a verbal one. "Says the expert," he remarked coldly. "How many times were you arrested again? Three?"

"Knock it off," snapped Sora and Ven in unison, the latter with more than a hint of venom.

"Twice," Roxas corrected, unruffled by the low-blow shot. Digging his earbuds out of his pocket, he plugged them into his phone as he added, "But it wasn't because I was lame enough to hang around and wait for the cops." He slipped the tiny speakers into his ears and swept his thumb over the screen, not once humbling himself to even glance in Vanitas' direction. "Our getaway driver was kind of an idiot." Music suddenly blared from his earbuds, ending the conversation there.

Sora and Ven looked uncomfortable, but Vanitas just scoffed quietly. It was difficult to decide whether he grudgingly liked Roxas or hated his guts; whatever the case, he did respect him, but only in the way that you respect a pitbull by not provoking it unless necessary. Vanitas didn't think much of little tagalong gang members, let alone _ex_ -tagalong gang members, but he couldn't deny that this one was a force to be reckoned with. Roxas was the only one who had ever beaten him in a real fight, after all, and that earned some recognition. Namely, recognition along the lines of _don't tick him off unless you're willing to risk a broken nose._

Ventus, though - he was always fair game. He could throw a punch as hard and fast as the next guy, maybe more, but he lacked his twin's firsthand instinct and hard-bitten resolve. Ven had only ever fought for pride, not his life.

So, as usual, Vanitas took it out on the straight-laced blonde: setting his forearm on Ven's head, he casually leaned on him for support. "Heh, having Mr. Juvenile Delinquent in the family must be pretty nice for you, huh? You get to be the favorite without even trying."

Ven actually tolerated the shoving and didn't fight back. "Funny," he said coolly, "that's what I told Sora."

"Ha! _Burn!"_ Sora shot over a look that said _You earned that one_ , but Vanitas only widened his grin and put more weight on his arm. When Ven got this sassy, it just meant he was angry. That was where Vanitas liked to keep him.

 _"Ouch,"_ he drawled flatly. "What happened to always kissing up to your friends, Ventus?"

Ven made a noise that was equal parts laugh and scoff. "Since when are we friends?"

"Ha, _that's_ the part you deny?"

Growling, Ven twisted and elbowed him in the gut. "Get off! You know what I meant." Vanitas did back off slightly, but made sure to be unnecessarily rough in shoving off of him.

He wouldn't have seriously called Ventus a friend by any stretch of the imagination, not even to himself, but there was no denying that they spent more time in one another's company than non-friends usually did. There were a few other guys Vanitas hung out with now and again, just to share negative commentary or the smoking area at lunch, but they weren't anyone he kept in contact with beyond that. He'd known Ven and Roxas since middle school - had picked on both and fought them each one-on-one, rather, developing a wary regard for one and an ambiguous tolerance for the other - and had Ven completely written him off, that probably would have been the end of it.

Like Sora, however, Ventus had an insufferably optimistic and kind-hearted nature. He didn't just take whatever was thrown at him, but his grudges weren't carved in stone, either. He would gladly throw a punch Vanitas' way one minute, and then turn around and have his back the next. _Why_ was a question Vanitas had long since ceased to wonder, simply attributing it to childish naivete. In the end, he figured it didn't really matter. He had someone who made his day-to-day living a little more interesting, so there was that.

"You take that kind of attitude with Terra and Aqua?" he asked, one eyebrow rising. Ven turned with a defensive glare, opened his mouth, and then quickly shut it again. His bait taken, Vanitas stretched absently. "Heh. Thought not. What _is_ it with you and those two, anyway?"

"It's called having friends, genius," Ven snapped.

"Right, because seniors always hang out with clingy freshmen."

"We've been friends a long time! They wouldn't forget about me just because we started high school!"

"Yeah, _sure_ ," said Vanitas with zero conviction. He whopped the back of Ven's head, but with less bruising force and more intent to annoy. "You three got somethin' freaky going on?"

 _"Shut up."_ The heat in Ven's voice went up about twenty degrees. Ignoring the unspoken threat, Vanitas kept pushing.

"Aqua? Sure, I don't blame you there. Keeping her in the middle might make putting up with Terra worth it-"

"That is _it!_ " Both desk and chair rattled as Ven shoved himself to his feet and whirled around. Vanitas had swiftly withdrawn a couple steps to prepare himself, and now grinned in challenge as he made a beckoning _Bring it_ motion with his fingers. Ven lunged forward with one fist already drawn back over his shoulder.

Off to the side, Roxas only sank lower in his seat as he continued to text away, not once lifting his eyes. "And this is how we end up here every Friday," he muttered, barely audible over the shrieks of more desks scraping over the floor.

Sora watched the other two with a weary look, one arm hanging over the back of his chair. "Should we stop them?" he wondered doubtfully. He didn't think Roxas would hear his mostly rhetorical question, but the other boy scoffed lightly.

"You wanna get between those two, go ahead. You know how they work."

"Mm..." It was an acknowledging but reluctant sound. Sora did know better at this point. Ven and Vanitas fought all the time, so much so that their friends had mostly given up on trying to intervene. Even if their scuffle was broken up, they would just settle it later at the first opportunity - and that was a pretty big "if." Once the adrenaline got pumping, Vanitas in particular wasn't too careful about picking his battles; if someone decided to get between his fist and Ven's face, that was their problem.

Sora watched as Ven dodged a swing, ducked, and then threw himself hard at Vanitas' middle in a tackle that would have made Coach Phil proud, sending both boys crashing into a bookshelf with winded grunts. The shelf wobbled and a few knick-knacks rolled off to hit the floor, but it luckily stayed upright. Quick to recover, Vanitas slammed his elbow down between Ven's shoulder blades, loosening his tackle-hold, and shoved him backwards to send him stumbling over some chairs.

Sighing dramatically, Sora turned back to his desk and crossed his arms behind his head. He was grateful for having simpler friendships than that.

Speaking of, he felt his phone vibrate. Ignoring the handful of spare pencils that - somehow - went flying towards the front of the room, he checked it and found a text waiting. It was Kairi, asking when he would be free.

Glumly, he typed back, _not sure. van n ven at it again so might b late_

Her reply came five seconds later and, despite the lack of her usual emoji, he could detect the disbelief in it. _Again?_

Something heavy - wooden, maybe, by the sound of it - struck the floor with a clattering thud. Vanitas swore.

 _its nbd. theyre fine_ , Sora replied.

 _"Ventus! Vanitas!"_

All movement in the room instantly ceased. Sora shoved his phone into his pocket and even Roxas pulled his earbuds out and looked up. At the back of the room, Vanitas and Ven had frozen mid-fight; Vanitas sported a red spot on the edge of his jaw that would most likely be a bruise soon, while Ven was slightly bent and had one arm over his stomach as if shielding it, his expression pained. They each had a fistful of the other's shirt.

By the doorway stood two figures that each boy knew well: a teenager not much older than they, brown-haired and blue-eyed and built from a successful four years on the football team, and a much older, very stooped man who gave off an air of cold authority. Both were frowning, although the teen looked equal parts disapproving and disappointed with his arms crossed. The elderly man had called out before, and now he spoke again, equally stern.

"Just what are you two doing?"

Simultaneously releasing one another, Ven and Vanitas stood to attention - although only the former's straight-backed poise reflected any respect - and helpfully offered, "Nothing, sir."

"Nothing, you say?" Professor Xehanort raised one thin eyebrow and cast a glance back at Terra. "How many times does this make now?"

Terra hesitated, but then reluctantly answered, "Four times this month - that I know about." Ven broke eye contact, looking guilty.

"Mmm, yes... One would think their skills would improve, but it seems they still throw themselves around like a couple of playground urchins."

Roxas snorted. Vanitas and Ven both shot him dirty looks as Terra stared at Xehanort, slightly bewildered. "I... think it's better that way, sir. They're less likely to seriously hurt each other, at least," he pointed out.

"Presumably," grunted Xehanort, but he argued the point no further. Before the pause could get too awkward, Sora slid from his seat to stand with his most disarming grin.

"They're not really _fighting_ , sir - I mean, yeah, it looks... kinda bad, but they'd never _really_ hurt each other." He glanced back, his expression momentarily faltering to one of exasperation as he regarded the two. "...Much."

"Yes, well..." With a sigh, the old man again turned to Terra. "As a rising teacher, what would you recommend be done?"

Dropping his arms, Terra seemed to be holding back a sigh. "I agree with the principal," he said slowly, "that they don't deserve to be expelled for it. But detention's obviously not getting the point across." There was a hint of emphasis there as he caught Ven's eye. Xehanort nodded lightly, but offered no input. "I guess they could be put to work instead of just sitting around like this," Terra suggested. To the boys he added, "That might make you think twice."

"And it might not," Vanitas muttered audibly. Ven elbowed him in the ribs as Terra's frown deepened.

"There you have it," said Xehanort, ignoring the backtalk. "The next time you boys consider doing something wild, keep in mind that the school has a fair number of restrooms that could use a thorough cleaning." Sora and Roxas whipped their heads around to pin the other two with accusing glares. That was clearly _not_ a punishment they wanted any part of.

Xehanort glanced at the clock. "But you lads go ahead and get yourselves home. And," he shot over with a piercing glance, "keep your hands to yourselves, at least until you're off campus."

"Yessir," Ven and Vanitas echoed.

"But - sir," Terra objected, surprised and puzzled, "is it - should we really just let them off like this?"

Humming thoughtfully in his throat, Xehanort turned his back on the students. "Boys will be boys, especially at their age. Locking them up here every day likely makes their frustration with each other worse. Best to let them blow off some steam _away_ from school property." Without waiting for a response, he made for the door. Terra sent the foursome a hard glance to let them know they had gotten off lucky, and then turned to follow. Vanitas made a crude gesture at his back, prompting Ven to punch him hard in the arm.

"Ah, but-" Xehanort paused right before he would have stepped out, making the two boys freeze again. "-Vanitas. Come to my office first thing in the morning."

Three pairs of eyes glanced sidelong at Vanitas, curious, but he ignored them. "Right," he grunted without enthusiasm.

As soon as both teacher and teacher's aid had departed, the four freshmen quickly and gladly moved to gather their things. Roxas was ahead of the rest, chuckling dryly as he pulled his bag onto his shoulder. "Playground urchins."

Vanitas sent him a withering look. " _Shut it_ , Roxas."

"Well, you _do_ look like that."

Before Vanitas could decide whether punching the pitbull was worth it, Ven beat him to action by making a running leap for Roxas' back. Roxas staggered and doubled over under the impact, teetered dangerously, but then recovered his balance all while his twin managed to hold on tight. _"Ven!"_ The reprimand was probably meant to come off threatening, but it lost its emphasis as a laugh slipped out with it.

Ruffling Roxas' spikes affectionately, Ven clung like an oversized toddler to stay in place. "So what if I do? Better than acting like a moody old man all the time!"

"Watch it!" Roxas tried to shake him off, but to no avail. With an irritable sigh, he resigned himself to piggybacking his brother and kept on walking.

Vanitas froze Sora in his tracks with an icy glare. "Try it and I'll end you."

Minutes later, the four - three, with Roxas still toting Ven along - stepped through the front doors and out into the fresh light of freedom. Vanitas was the only one who wasn't all that thrilled at the piercing sun's presence, dressed in as much black as he was, but the frown on his face was the default one all the same.

"So what're your plans for the weekend?" Ven moved around to get a clear look at Sora while Roxas grimaced, having to adjust for the clumsy shift in weight.

"Not sure yet," Sora admitted. He pocketed his hands as he glanced skyward in thought, a pose he and Vanitas often shared. "I promised Kairi we'd go out tonight, but I'm thinking a spontaneous trip to the beach sounds good. Maybe tomorrow morning. You guys wanna come?" He turned towards Vanitas as he said it, indicating that he was inviting all three, but his brother already had a five-second lead down the sidewalk. "Hey! Vanitas!"

"Nah," he threw over his shoulder. "I've had enough of the blonde duo for one weekend."

Ven scoffed loudly. "More like you're afraid of ruining your pale complexion."

"More like I don't need the opportunity to drown you," Vanitas called back, not once sparing another glance. "It'd be too tempting."

Ven scoffed again, but his attitude did an instant one-eighty as he grinned at Sora. "Sure! Count us in!"

Roxas looked annoyed. "Don't volunteer for me like that."

"All right, count me in, then. Roxas doesn't wanna go."

"Hey! Don't not-volunteer me, either!"

Shortly after, Sora hurried after Vanitas while the other pair went their own way. Ven finally slipped off of Roxas to walk beside him, arms folded behind his head as he upheld most of the conversation.

A few seconds into a short pause, Roxas spoke up, hands tucked in his hoodie pocket. "Y'know. I was lying when I told Vanitas about the wires."

Arms dropping, Ven curbed his smile. "Lying?"

"Uh-huh. You think the alarm going off was an accident?" Roxas looked over, one eyebrow arched incredulously. Puzzled, Ven held the look - and then slowly broke into a grin as realization dawned.

"You set him up?"

Roxas looked slightly exasperated. "Why would I get busted over anything for his sake? It would've worked, too, if you and Sora didn't have to play hero all the time."

Ven laughed, and then quickly did his best to look apologetic. "Oh. Well. Sorry. But it was still a pretty cool plan!"

As annoyed as Roxas clearly was, he couldn't hide the hint of pride in his expression. "Some of that's still useful, I guess."

That remark sobered Ven's humor in record time.

* * *

"I think that punk set me up."

Sora glanced sidelong at Vanitas. "Huh?"

"Roxas. I did exactly what he said and the alarm still went off." Despite the accusation, Vanitas didn't look angry; just thoughtful, his bright eyes fixed absently ahead.

"Yeah? Well, maybe he forgot something," Sora suggested with a shrug. "It's been a while since he's done any of that."

Vanitas snorted. "Please. You really think he's turned around, just like that?"

"Well... yeah. Don't you?" Vanitas fixed him with such a deadpan look that Sora sighed. "Have a little faith in him, would ya? Ven trusts him."

"Ventus is an idiot."

"Says the guy who got set up while trying to hotwire a bus," Sora countered, hands on his hips and eyebrow arched. "And why do you still use his full name, anyway? You've known him for like five years."

"I bet he totally did it on purpose," Vanitas mused to himself, ignoring the question. Then, matter-of-factly, he added, "I'm gonna kill him."

"Let it go, Vanitas. To be fair, it's kind of like Roxas got even for Ven last week."

A sharp, self-satisfied grin broke over Vanitas' face. "I don't know what you're talkin' about," he replied, not even trying to make his innocence sound convincing. "Not my fault Ventus is such a klutz."

"Uhhh-huh." Sora was utterly unconvinced. "Guess it wasn't your fault he took a nosedive into the girls' locker room, either?"

Vanitas threw his head back with a cutting laugh. "I couldn't take credit for that even if I wanted to. All I did was push him. How was I supposed to know somebody would open the door at the same time?"

Well, Sora had to agree there. Vanitas was a lot of things, but he wasn't psychic. Just creative - very, very creative.

He sighed again. He respected Ven enough not to laugh - then or now - even if the chaos that ensued _had_ been pretty funny. In hindsight, of course. "You're terrible. You know that?"

"You don't say."

* * *

 **NOTE** : _I'm so sorry Vanitas is such a trashbin of a human being_


End file.
